Short Story Collection
by Princess Furret
Summary: A collection of short stories for practice with various plots. Some are OC X Canon, Canon X Canon, OC X OC and various universe settings. All information at the beginning of each one.


Hello and sorry for my lack of updating my other story. I've got a birthday gift for a friend I will be writing this week but I needed some practice at short stories. So this is a little piece I did for practice. There will be many in this collection so I hope you enjoy.

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**Title: **Of People and Painting  
**Genre: **Family and Romance  
**Characters: **Ace, Izo and OC  
**Pairing: **Ace X OC (fluff)  
**Setting: **AU Real World  
**Summary: **Ace wants information on his mother but cannot get his hands on it. When Izo tells him of a girl in his painting class who can get it to him, he cannot believe it. But his need for the information is so great that he even agrees to model for Izo's studio class to get it.

Of People and Painting

A single pencil across the page. A brush stroke smooth on rough canvas. Her face was placid, simple and pretty. Her eyes concentrated solely on what was in front of her, darting just ever so slightly to look at him. Her lips, chapped and pink, opened slightly with tiny breaths. Her dark hair barely fell from the bandanna that kept it back, just a couple of locks that were never in her way. She held her brush, firm but gently, her fingernails were ripped and painted with dirt and plaster. She sat hunched when working, legs crossed, never changing positions.

Ace wasn't sure when he started noticing these tiny details, these delicate quirks of the girl in front of him. He had known her for two months, and only saw her once a week, sometimes for a few hours in between if they met by chance. His black eyes would dart to her own and she would immediately look away: subtle shyness. His face was towards her, his neck stiff and back sore from his constant position, but he knew moving was not an option.

At first, he hated the idea of being a model for Izo's painting class. The cross dresser had practically dragged him there with a promise of finding the information he wanted. And the girl who could give him that information was the one who had his attention so much. Sure they weren't the only ones in the room. That girl was painting him along with ten other people and Izo. But he never failed to face her and no one seemed to complain. If they wanted to draw a different side of him they moved. All but her. All but her.

Two months ago Ace had been begged by Izo to model for some painting lessons he took for fun. At first Ace did not want to, finding no reason behind doing it. Sitting in one position for hours on end was boring enough, but knowing people were staring at you was even worse. He had only reluctantly agreed when Izo told him that a girl in the class could get him information on his mother. That information was something he had sought out for years but with no luck.

Her name was Valley, a girl of English decent with dark hair and dark eyes. She was twenty two, two years older than Ace and a good half foot shorter. When Izo first introduced her to Ace, he had thought she would never be able to find what he was looking for. It turned out Valley was a college student who worked with human records and family records. She had access to the vault and could easily make copies of the information for him. Ace was very pleased with this, but unsure why the girl would want to help it.

"I simply want you to be my model." She had said when he questioned her. "Izo showed me a picture and I fell in love with your face. I wanted to paint it."

The statement took Ace back at first. Izo had to remind him that Valley had no interest in him as a person, only as a model. After that they agreed to meet. It took Valley longer than Ace thought to find the information. He actually began to get agitated after the second week. Today after class he was going to talk to her, ask her why it was taking so long to find some simple information on someone with how vast the internet was. Sure he couldn't find it, but she had access to information, not him.

Another hour passed in the lesson and the instructor clapped his hands. Everyone put down their tools and began to clean up. Ace sat up and stretched, cracking bones as he did. A few of the students winced at the noise while others paid no attention. Izo was disgusted but made no slight gesture while Valley simply cleaned her brushes at the sink. The instructor went around to the different pictures, giving comments and critiques.

"If you were to stop thinking of art as a hobby and take it seriously, I could see more depth in this painting." Ace looked up at Valley and the instructor. It was not unknown to anyone in the class that Valley had taken it has a pastime. She paid for the lessons and painted for fun that was all. The instructor disliked her lack of motivation and called it a waste of talent. Valley shrugged him off and lifted the canvas off the easel, turning it towards Ace for him to see.

Her painting was a bit rough, showing where brush strokes started and ended but that messy texture seemed to make it look better. Like many of her other paintings and pictures of him, Valley had added flames dancing off his skin. Ace never pondered why, but to start a conversation, now was the time.

He stood up, reading for Izo to finish packing his brushes and walked over to her. "Why always fire?" Ace asked Valley. She placed the painting on a rack to dry, out of the way of anybody else.

"I always see you with fire." She told him. "It's your element I think. When I first saw you, you were in an inferno. That I know."

Valley said nothing after that. An awkward silence fell between them as neither could say a word. Valley was short to the point and not the closest to being a social butterfly. Izo tapped Ace on the shoulder, making him jump slightly. "Time to go, Ace." He said, smiling at Valley.

"Ah, one second." Ace said, turning to Valley. "How much longer will it take to get that information? It's been two weeks."

"I don't know." Valley said simply. She picked up her bag and put it over her shoulders. "Going through the files takes a long time and your mother is a small town girl so information is scarce."

"How hard can it be to go through some computer files?" Ace questioned her.

For a second, Valley's eyes flared with anger at the incompetence Ace displayed to her. She calmed herself down and pulled a small card out of her pocket. On it was the location of the research facility she was working on her thesis for. "Come here, whenever you are free." She told him. "I will show you just how long it takes."

After the card was in Ace's fingers, Valley walked past them and out the door. Ace stare at the address and looked at Izo. "You should go and see where she works." The man said, gesturing for them to leave as well. "It's a pretty place."

"You've been there before?" Ace asked. He followed Izo out of the building.

"Oh yes, I told Valley I had never been there and she gave me a tour." Izo replied. "It was much different from what I had expected." A black coupe was waiting for them. A silver decorative piece in the shape of a pirate's insignia was fastened to the hood. Ace sat in the driver's seat and began to drive the two of them back.

"She seemed mad when I told her it was on the computer." Ace said. "Why?"

"I think you will understand when you go visit her." Izo smiled. "And make sure you do it soon, because you did insult her."

Ace huffed slightly and continued to drive.

Three days later, Ace lay on the bed in his room, staring at his ceiling with nothing to do. The instructor had called in sick for the day and he had nowhere to go for the afternoon. He stood up and forced his hands into his pocket. They hit something a bit sharp and he pulled out the card Valley had given him the day before. He stared at the address for a few moments before deciding that it wouldn't hurt to go and see her.

He left the house, shouting at Izo about going out. He barely heard the man laugh before he closed the front door. Twenty minutes later, Ace was outside an older building with the appearance of a library. He walked in, the card in his hand and found a middle aged woman at a desk. She looked up at him from what she was writing on a paper and gave him a questioning look.

Ace had not even taken a second thought on what he should wear to this place and wore nothing but baggy shorts and a tight cut tank top. He gave her an earnest smile and showed her the card. "Valley said I could come and visit her." He said honestly. "Do you know where she is?"

The woman took the card and shook her head. "Down the hall, room 112, she's in that mess somewhere." She said quickly. "Tell her to teach her guests how to dress properly."

Ace took his card back and went down the hall, muttering something about teaching secretaries manners. Roughly thirty meters down the hall, Ace found the designated room. The door was made of light wood with no window and nothing but a simple plate with Valley's name on it. He knocked on it hard with rough knuckles and waited.

After over a minute and nobody came out, he knocked again. He was about to knock for a third time when the secretary yelled at him. "Just walk in, she won't here you."

Ace listened and opened the door. He turned to close it and looked around the room. It was much bigger than what Ace had imagined, full of nothing but filing cabinets and bookshelves. Everything was brimming with files in manila folders, some faded while others new. Papers were everywhere as well as a few scattered books. Ace looked at the ground and found himself walking on files, the only place vacant of them were right in the door's vicinity. Feeling bad about walking on them with boots, Ace removed his shoes and put them under a table that was in front of the door. There, he found a pair of flats that he recognized as Valley's.

Feeling assured that she was in the room, Ace started to walk around. He never called her name; some fear was inside of him that doing so would cause an avalanche. After a few minutes, he found her buried away in the back at a desk with the only computer he could see. She was typing fast, glancing over several files at once as she did so. When she was done with a file, she hastily tossed it to the side and started working with another one.

Ace wanted to go up and tap her shoulder but his life felt like it was in danger if he did so. He saw one empty chair and made his way over to it. Right before he sat down, Valley spoke. "Sit for a minute and let me finish this last file." She stated quickly. Ace obeyed.

Twenty minutes later, Valley stood up and dropped the file onto a pile. She looked at him and placed her hands on her hips, licking her lips slightly. "I hoped you didn't mess up any files." She told him. "I know where everything is."

"Don't worry, I only walked through." Ace said simply. Valley nodded and gestured for him to follow her.

"Thanks for taking off your shoes." She told him. "I'm not allowed to put a sign up on the door so I hope people have common sense. People do not have common sense most of the time."

Ace chuckled at this and glanced her over. Though her attire couldn't be exactly considered formal, she was dressed nicely compared to her other clothing. Usually Ace saw her in cargo capris with a tank top and a bandanna. Here she was in nice slacks with a short sleeved blouse and her hair was up in a bun. She looked good all cleaned up.

"I found the general location that your mother's information should be in." She told him. She turned down into a bookshelf and gestured towards five stuffed shelves. "This is where everyone with the last name Gol or anything similar is related."

"But my mother's last name is Portgas." Ace corrected her. "She never married."

"To the extent of your knowledge." Valley corrected. She picked up a file from the floor and handed it to him. Ace took it and began to flip through the papers. "Your mother grew up in a small town that doesn't show up on maps. There aren't many people living there and the wedding wasn't announced to many. It was legal and registered, but only about three people attended."

"I can't believe it…" Ace muttered. "My gramps always said that my dad left her."

"He did." Valley corrected. "When he learned she was pregnant, he hid her back at her town and continued on with his work to keep her safe. A mafia boss's wife is always a victim and since the marriage was small, everyone thought they had nothing to do with each other."

"All of this was in the records?" Ace asked. Suspicion filled him as Valley gave him information that seemed false.

"Your father wrote a will." Valley knelt down and picked up another file, handing it to him. "In it, he described meeting Rouge, marrying her and why they had to separate. Your mother wrote a will that was similar and her good byes to your father."

Ace read through them both of the wills and released a high tension sigh. He ran a hand through his black hair and leaned back in the chair. "All my life I hated my dad for ditching my mom and making her go through a childbirth that killed her." He said. "Now I learn that it was all to protect her from getting murdered."

"You should stick with your Portgas name unless you want to have some troubles with the mafia." Valley suggested. She took the wills from Ace and placed them back in the shelf with their files. "Gol is a famous name."

"I'm already in it under the name of Newgate." Ace said simply. Valley turned to him and a look of simple shock, eyes wide. Ace gave her a sly smile and clapped his hands together. "But I won't make a name of myself under my father's; I can do that on my own."

Valley shook her head slightly and crossed her arms over her chest. "I've been painting a mafia member this whole entire time." She muttered to Ace's amusement. "Well, did I get you the information you needed?"

"You gave me plenty." Ace said, standing up. The two walked to the door where Ace tugged on his boots. "Though, maybe I can see you more than just at the studio." He winked at her and opened the door.

Valley placed her hand on the edge and smiled up at him. "That would be nice." She mused. "I think I'm starting to like something about you, even more than you face."


End file.
